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denomination. The National Message, the official or- Ancient Celts in North America
gan of the Federation, reached a circulation of nearly
100,000. This was not only a true ecumenical move- It has been known for over a century that South Amer-
ment of immense size and influence: it was also an ica was colonized in small degree by peoples from the
easy target for the forces of evil. ancient civilizations -- including those of Egypt and
Crete -- and even by Israelites. In view of this, there
In retrospect, it is not difficult to appreciate why the seemed no good reason why North America could not
movement should have become such an easy target for also have been visited by these early folk. It is only re-
Satan and his minions. The fathers of the Federation cently that there have been discoveries which firmly
were Christians of great intellect and spiritual vision support this conclusion. America B.C. by Barry Fell,
who failed to realize that their movement would be un- published in Britain in 1978 (London: Wildwood
der attack -- unscrupulous attack -- from the moment House Ltd., 29 King Street WC2E 8JD) gives a highly
of its inception and that every aspect of its organiza- interesting account of these discoveries by one who
tion should have been considered from that angle. has devoted a great part of his life to the subject.
Without a thought as to possible mis-use by oppo-
nents, the title of The British-Israel-World Federation New Zealander Barry Fell's interest in ancient lan-
was adopted with enthusiasm and individual members guages began in High School when he collected Etrus-
began describing themselves as British Israelites. can words quoted by Latin authors. He became
interested in the work of the London architect Michal
It was not at all difficult for Satan's minions to smear Ventris who deciphered the mysterious inscriptions
the movement as a collection of politico-religious found in Crete, called Linear B. His life-long interest
cranks who were misinterpreting the Bible to justify in the ancient Celts began when he was a student at Ed-
British jingo imperialism. Those ministers of religion inburgh University. Whilst practicing his profession as
who had been influenced by the then growing Oxford a marine biologist, he investigated ancient Libyan in-
movement condemned "British-Israelism" (as they scriptions discovered in remote Pacific islands. It was
called it) out of hand -- as did most intellectuals and when he became Professor of Biology at Harvard Uni-
the political left. versity that he investigated the remains of ancient tem-
ples, dolmens and standing stones -- with their
Public interest in our movement declined dramatically. inscriptions -- found in various parts of North Amer-
There was a considerable stirring of interest during the ica. These convinced him that, centuries before Chris-
Second World War when public meetings became topher Columbus, ancient Celts, Phoenicians,
crowded and our message was well received in the Egyptians and Libyans had visited and, to some degree,
highest political circles. But with the end of the war, colonized North America.
the declining trend was renewed and too many of our
local meetings were attended only by the "faithful con- On a rock face on Turkey Mountain near Tulsa, Okla-
verted." Significantly, however, a latent knowledge homa, he found the well-known Celtic name "Gynn"
seems to have remained among the people -- the seeds meaning "white" inscribed in Ogam. Beneath it were
of future new growth. the North Iberian letters: "P-a-y-a", spelling the Punic
word for "white." He concluded that the inscription was
In 1989, the declines had not merely been halted: there made by an ancient Celtic explorer around 500 B.C. --
became a steady expansion of interest. Under the evidence of a close association between Celts and
influence of a group of Christian Israelites experi- Phoenicians. He also found an Ogam inscription on the
enced in public affairs, Satan's supporters are being tombstone of an ancient Vermont ruler with the origi-
vigorously challenged and the message of Scripture is nal form of the well-known Scottish name "McEwan"
being interpreted in terms of the great world events in and the Welsh name "Evan." An even more exciting dis-
the Age-end period of history. covery was an Ogam inscription on a rock in the Sus-
quehanna Valley which Fell translated as "To Baal Son
This ever growing public interest and support will, we of Habakuk." That an ancient Celt bore a name we asso-
now believe, deepen and widen until, at the Return of ciate with a minor Bible prophet is certainly intriguing.
our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, he will find throughout
Israel "a people prepared." Then a tablet was discovered in the remains of a temple
-- Reginald H. W. Cox. in Mystery Hill, New England, with the Ogam inscrip-
tion: "Dedicated to Bell" -- the Sun God of the Celts.
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